My dog won't walk at night

dudmis

I have recently homed a 2 year old gorgeous golden retriever. She's a great dog, great with the kids etc but she is a bit timid and nervous in new situations. We only have her 2 weeks.

I usually walk her first thing in the morning but some mornings thats not possible. Like today. So, off I went tonight to walk her and she was having none of it.

I eventually got her to walk up and down my estate (there were no cars) but everytime we got to the main road she plonked herself down and refused to budge. (this has happened a couple of times before).

So I got her into the car and brought her for a drive so she could see the cars on the road but not get too stressed by them. Then I parked on the side of a busy-ish road and opened the boot and sat beside her feeding her treats every time a car went by.

I'm not sure if this is going to work so I am looking for other tips.

Also, she hasn't had a walk to day (just a bit of ball throwing in the garden) - will this be a prob?

Delancey

Missing a walk will do no harm at all , I reckon you are doing all the right things - it may well prove to be just a question of time.

Cherry Blossom

The longer days are not too far around the corner. I'd say your best bet is to get into a routine of walking the dog at the same time in the evenings when we get into summer. When it starts to get dark earlier again the dog will get used to it as she'll still be going out at the same time, it'll just get darker gradually over the months and she'll become desensitised to the dark over this period, she should be familiar with her usual routes by that stage also which will make her more comfortable with it.

tk123

My retriever is a bit scaredy - he had an operation last year and then again this year on his other leg and was crated for a month each time- once we started having to walk again he was like this. Afraid and wouldn't budge! I found the best thing was to bring treats and treat him every few steps. He knows his look! command so I'd ask him to look, click (we use a clicker) and treat him and it built up his confidence. I'd give him the command basically non stop so he was paying attention to me instead of what was going on around him. He still stops for busses/trucks/anything loud but no more sitting or lying down. This year I decided to try a thunder shirt for him and it made a HUGE difference - he was instantly calmer with it on so you could maybe give one of them a try?
It'll come in time though - as frustrating as it is just go at her pace with plenty of praise when she's walking. Retrievers are greedy pigs so easy to train lol!! Also an obedience class would be a good idea to build up a bond and give her some confidence.

dudmis

Thanks everyone for your ideas.

tk123, I had her at obedience last week and she was so scared - wouldn't even take her treats! but the trainer reckons just to give her another few weeks and we'll try her again.

Roll on the longer evenings ;-)

Discodog

Two weeks isn't very long. I rehomed two very nervous dogs in succession & they now have bags of confidence. Just keep rewarding, encouraging & praising. Take it slowly & consistently.

Sigma Force

Ahhh the poor pet, as said just take your time with her she'll eventually enjoy her walks, a bit of a play in the garden is fine if she's not up to it. She eventually will relax and she'll look to go for walkies and with the brighter evenings coming in she might go out with you later and by next winter she'll be so used to going out at a certain time she won't mind.

tk123

Just stick with it OP - she'll get there eventually and will be walking along with a lovely swishy retriever tail lol! Loads of praise/treats (really good treats eg like chopped up hotdogs) when she's walking and then when she gets scared try to get her attention away from eg the bus and then praise/treats when she starts moving again. Last year with my guy I'd wait until 7 ish when the traffic died down a bit and then when he got more comfortable walked him when I got home at 5:00 instead. Whatever you do - if there's eg a park nearby don't just switch to walking only in the park once the evenings get longer - if for some reason you can't walk her in the park you'll need to be able to walk her past the traffic. This is what happened with us - it just worked out that the park was open before and after work so when I had to switch to walking on the path past the traffic he was terrified.
Well done btw for taking a rescue in and trying to help her!